I keep hearing people throw around the B word. BUDGET.
I used to do this thing called budget. But we broke up. And now we can’t even be friends.
You see, Perform to Serve, Enlisted Review Boards, Downsizing … it’s all in effect to save money, do more with less and satisfy those in congress and other places who think the military is an overpriced sorority. I get it. It’s dead wrong. But I get it. We are throwing out insanely good people. But I get it.
Perception is reality. And the perception is that the military spends a crap load of money on a load of crap. That crap saves lives, finds and kills Bin Laden, makes land, air and sea safe for travel, makes it possible for you to speak your mind freely, even when you use that right to down talk the military. However, to the untrained eye, it may indeed look like loads of crap, and I think I know why.
Recently at a huge military symposium the new Chief of Naval Operations spoke and afterward allowed Sailors and civilians the opportunity to ask questions. He coined each person that asked a question. Once people noticed he was doing this the line for asking questions continued to grow, yet the relevance and importance of the question began to decline severely. It was obvious, people wanted that challenge coin more than they wanted an answer to their question.
There were some good questions regarding Perform to Serve and budget cuts. There were also some big picture questions regarding the future of the Navy. But for the most part questions were misdirected and often misguided.
Near the end of the line was a petty officer second class. I waited with baited breath to hear what this girl was going to throw out there. As it turns out the CNO had to cut off questions before it was her turn. He gave everyone in line a coin anyway, and exited the stage. But I couldn’t let it end like that. I searched out that petty officer on a break and I asked her point blank what she had planned to ask the CNO.
She said, “well, I’m hearing them talk about PTS and ERBs and budget cuts. I’m watching my friend who has three children get kicked out of the Navy after years and years of dedicated service and sacrifice. My husband’s best friend lost his wife due to his back-to-back deployments and now could lose the very career he sacrificed everything to keep.”
She continued: “I don’t know the ins and outs of it all, but I was hoping the CNO could tell me why we are spending thousands on uniforms we are barely allowed to wear, spending thousands on change of command ceremonies that no one but the members of our commands care about, spending thousands on even these challenge coins that people jumped in line to receive, instead of investing in my husband’s best friend.”
I just stood there. I mean, what could I say? Part of me was actually glad she didn’t make it to the front of the line in time. And the other part of me was ashamed of that part.
Comments
I often wonder why we (the corporate, whole country we) spend money on seemingly silly stuff. Ocassionly, soneone puts a stop to it. Example: In New York State someone had the bright idea to spend about 5K per sign to tell motorists the construction hell they were driving though was being paid for with the STIMULUS Money from your federal gov't. There was an immediate hue and cry and the practice was quickly halted.
I was in the Submarine Navy for 20 years and now I work in the defense contracting industry (a boy's gotta eat). The company I work is forever spending time and money on things that don't seem to be productive. A lot of that $$ comes from the fed because that's who we build stuff for.
The 2nd class has too valid a point from what is a regular persons perspective. The problem is we (regular persons) don't think like the rich and powerful. It does not occur to those that make the decsions that the "paltry" sums expended on unecessary stuff might actually make difference to even a few of the rank and file.
Walter
I completely agree with you. Congress and the military need to look at ways to economize without cutting first. It seems that every time a budget cut comes around the first thing they do is cut troops and equipment. I believe that it well past time to completely overhaul the processes and procedures the military has to go thru just to get a simple pen.
- She was fair to point out what a waste "Operation Aquaflage" has been from the get-go.
- It is reasonable to criticize the incalculable wasted manhours and intangible costs we expend on Change of Command and Retirement Ceremonies. I have been in almost 7 years, and I can't even guess how many entire DAYS were thrown out in preps, rehearsal and execution of these Dog and Pony Shows. Would Wal Mart be able to sustain their cost structure if every member of their management staff hosted an "all hands" reception every time they relocated?
- Are we going to take into consideration what it costs to maintain Quarters A, B, C at every major CONUS base? The landscaping, the maintenance and repairs? It ain't likey to be FREE I'm guessing.
- Even though every shore command installed a billion dollars in IT equipment to have teleconferencing capability, we still fly people all over to go to conferences, absorbing the costs of their airfare, hotels, and meals several times per year. is this reasonable?
- With the tremendous amount of "training" we subject our people to, is every sailor in the Navy (at EVERY duty station) currently qualified to Move, Shoot and Communicate as well as fighting fires, repelling boarders, stopping bleeding, and performing CPR? Will we instead waste more training hours (and DOLLARS) on ZERO impact topics generated by JAGs to cover GOs/Flag Officers butts?
Next month I am retiring from the Army Reserves. After working with a brigade for a year I can see why there are so many cost overruns. One of the biggest problems the military has is the red tape that it has to go thru just to get the simple stuff. Contracts are not awarded to the best people, or even the least priced, but to companies that meet a bunch of qualifications. Also, the bureaucracy is insane these days.
If the military was really serious about cutting the budget they would look at ways to economize. They would look at processes and procedures involved with acquisition and improve them. One of my biggest pet peeves is DTS. This system is so complicated that there has to be a specialist at just about every battalion. In the corporate world that I work in the same process takes me about 5 minutes to complete a travel voucher. In the military the same travel voucher cane take me hours.
Another problem I see is that the military does not take the service members time into consideration. They feel that service members, especially those at higher ranks, should just suck it up and move on. While it is true that higher ranking officials will spend extra time working, this needs to be productive time. Sitting in meetings for most of the day then working all night is not productive time.
In conclusion, the military can cut their budget significantly. This would entail looking at various process and procedures and seeing where to modernize them. Just cutting people and programs is not the answer.
I am forever indebted to you for this ifnoramtion.
Folks… with small minded people, it has always been form over substance. That's why it takes 10 years to not win a 12 month battle. We have failed to teach a value system to our citizens and history is long forgotten and/or ignored. Unless we change radically, for the better, and it will take 20 years to work through it, we are doomed as a nation. Anarchy is not far off.
15% of our military people fight. Of the 85% that are left, most are involved in weapons procurement. So where do you think the money is going to go? We pay our weapons contractors more money if they fail, if they drag out development and jack up weapon costs, than we do if they succeed. And they fail. Yeah, who could have possibly seen that coming? This isn't rocket science, people. It is just plain sense. Most of you miss the forest for all the trees. Quit listening to the rhetoric and speaking in acronymns and figure out for yourselves what's going on, and do what it takes to put an end to it. Open your eyes! These problems are neither complicated nor are they difficult to fix.
Dfens, you are dead on, but unfortunately those people who have the drive and fortitude to make changes often fail. I have been in situations to try and make tangible changes only to be steam-rolled and by-passed by leadership in-order to "get things done" (Pentagon Wars anyone?). After this happens a number of times, it is hard to keep putting up with it. So, I quit and go to work in the private sector where I believe they have to drive to actually get things done (vs. the appearance of getting things done and there is a difference). This is unfortunately the case for every poor soul who wishes to make a difference in the Acquisitions community; they try to make changes and eventually get frustrated and leave the DoD. I wish there could be more done to keep these good workers in.
So the DoD budget will grow ONLY by 16% versus 23% over the next decade…and DoD and her Services will have to make clear choices and prioritize after the nation decides on a revised strategy. The sky is not falling and we should stop acting as if it is.
It may just be an odd coincidence, but at the same time as the House passed last year's budget, which included a Republican measure that drastically reduced the military budget if certain conditions were not met, there has been a huge increase in reports concerning the obsolescence of AF/A/Navy/Marine helicopter fleets, navy ship obsolescence, AF/Navy/Marine aircraft obsolescence, and more. All of a sudden, the biggest military in the known universe can't perform its mission, the F-35 can't meet the enormous obligations it was supposed to fulfill, the LCS ships are crap, even the National Maritime Cutter leaks water due to rust, and our one thousand, one hundred foreign military bases are not enough to properly protect America's security.
Bringing back military jobs should be a high priority. It'd be cool if we cut our dependance on Private Military Contractors, raise the age enlisted limit from 17 to 21, and start a harder crackdown on rape of female personnel by male personnel. Too bad the DoD's policy makers are too fuc#tarded to make that happen and to a further extent the financiers are fuc#tarded in their own right for letting the banks cause this domino effect to happen.
The entire acquisition system in the US needs to be extirpated and replaced with a system similar to that used by the British. And, our armed forces on the whole need to CEASE making requirement and design changes even DURING CONSTRUCTION (sometimes with stuff that hadn't been invented yet).
Our system stinks and it will kill us well before our enemies even get the opportunity.